**Official** Asia Cup 2004 Thread

[Tim]

Bangladesh have put up a decent score by their standards..177/9 is one of those annoying totals, but I doubt India will struggle to get it.

 

[marc71178]

4 appeals already...bang getting lucky or what?

It all depends - an appeal can mean absolutely nothing, the regularity some people have been known to appeal!

 

[marc71178]

hong konk...

Well there you go, Pathan is better than the Hong Kong bowlers - I never thought I'd see the day (!)

 

[Tim]

The main problem I see with India particulary is that if a player doesn't perform within 6 months or so, he's out the door. Of course, most of the countries do this but India seem to go through alot more players.
Steve Harmison is a good example of when selectors keep faith in a player, he'll eventually repay the faith & deliver the goods..and it may take 2 years, but it'll be worth it.

I believe a similar thing is happening with Jacob Oram for NZ, he started out very poorly but he's starting to come right.

 

[Nate]

oram is a champ... just needs to improve one aspect of his game a tweak

 

[tooextracool]

I'm not sure what you're talking about -- since when is losing by 12 runs rubbish cricket? They've lost ONE match in the asia cup. And it was the fielding and running that cost them, it's not like the team gave up. They fought like hell till the last ball (yes, it was probably too late after their complacency in the field and in the first half of their batting, but this is what a lack of competitive will do). Please hold your horses until they actually do (if they do) play competely rubbish cricket, in which case i'll be more than happy to join you in roasting them.

actually if you were to take anything positive out of the batting it would be only dravid's innings. sachin & sehwag didnt do too much,ganguly played a stupid shot,yuvraj played rubbish and was lucky to last that long,kaif didnt do too much either(lets leave parthiv out of this).

 

[Tim]

I can't really fault Oram at the moment...he's bowling really well, his fielding in the gully is superb & generally he's scoring runs. I think perhaps I'd like to see him be a bit more consistent with the bat..but otherwise there's nothing really to complain about.

We're very fortunate at the moment to have 2 world class all-rounders in our ODI side.

 

[masterblaster]

Well, Tendulkar gets runs and leads India to victory.

But wait........

Now I can here people shouting and chanting 'It was only against Bangladesh'.

Is there a chance that Tendulkar and his fans can win in a never ending and stupid arguement?

Is there?

No really,

Is there?

 

[Tim]

For all the cricket Bangladesh have played recently, they still look way out of their depth. They've got some raw talent there though & I hope it eventually comes through for them.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

oram is a champ

i wouldnt call him that too soon mate.. he still has a long way to go.. but hes learning well..

 

[delkap]

Well, Tendulkar gets runs and leads India to victory.

But wait........

Now I can here people shouting and chanting 'It was only against Bangladesh'.

Is there a chance that Tendulkar and his fans can win in a never ending and stupid arguement?

Is there?

No really,

Is there?

Nah mate, there isnt
But some of us do know.. Tendulkar is the best there is ...

 

[Nate]

noooo... pakistan skittled out for jack-all!!!! india vs sri lanka in the final then i guess... good luck india.

 

[Revelation]

delkap, please don't flatter yourself. If anything,at best, Tendulkar is as good as Lara. At worst he's behind Lara and Dravid;even Hayden maybe.

 

[ReallyCrazy]

delkap, please don't flatter yourself. If anything,at best, Tendulkar is as good as Lara. At worst he's behind Lara and Dravid;even Hayden maybe.

Revelation! he was just saying his opinion and i'd agree w/ him that if the whole careers of sachin, lara, dravia and hayden are taken into account..id put sachin on top.

 

[Revelation]

you really should say why. 501*,400*,375 and 153* would take some beating! (and that's just scratching the surface) As for Hayden, 5000 runs in 50 Tests at over 58 including 20 centuries. And Dravid? Well he's certainly a lot more consistent. I'll give sachin his 33 Test tons and his average of about 57. But apart from his 241* v Australia, I really can't see how you can say that he's ahead of the rest.

 

[delkap]

you really should say why. 501*,400*,375 and 153* would take some beating! (and that's just scratching the surface) As for Hayden, 5000 runs in 50 Tests at over 58 including 20 centuries. And Dravid? Well he's certainly a lot more consistent. I'll give sachin his 33 Test tons and his average of about 57. But apart from his 241* v Australia, I really can't see how you can say that he's ahead of the rest.

Lara's 400 and 375 didn't win matches...
Sachins 100's in 98 and 2001 Aus series, Headingly 2002, in Zim, and in Multan won matches.

Actually if u do look at stats Sachin has done better job of winning matches... and if you look at the team he had in early 90's he was under more pressure..

Anyway I don't wanna get into a further discusssion, as both Lara and Dravid are fantastic players too. I won't put Hayden there, thats just my opinion.

I just think Sachin is the best in my opinion. You don't hv to accept it.. I dont care if anyone accepts it..

 

[Revelation]

sachin wins matches because he plays with a better team. Look at what Lara had to do in '99 to win 2 matches for WI. 213 and 153*. Look at the '01 Sri Lankan Series: 178,40,43,70,221,130. 688 rns @ 114.67 and WI lost 3-0. Lara wasn't even captain. How could you blame him for playing on a lame duck team??

and btw, 400* and 375 are 400* and 375 regardless. They were and are the World Test records.

 

[delkap]

sachin wins matches because he plays with a better team. Look at what Lara had to do in '99 to win 2 matches for WI. 213 and 153*. Look at the '01 Sri Lankan Series: 178,40,43,70,221,130. 688 rns @ 114.67 and WI lost 3-0. Lara wasn't even captain. How could you blame him for playing on a lame duck team??

and btw, 400* and 375 are 400* and 375 regardless. They were and are the World Test records.

Sachin played in a better team ?? (early - mid 90s)
Sidhu, Manjrekar, Azhar, Jadeja, some openers, Srinath, Prasad, Kumble, some spinners

compared to WI:

Haynes, Chanderpaul, Hooper, Adams, Ambrose, Walsh, Benjamin, etc...

Batting might be similar.. but WI bowling was v.v. strong compared to Ind barring Kumble...

 

[Revelation]

Lara played 1 or 2 tests with Haynes. Hooper is the epitome of WI underachievement. Chanderpaul only came on the scene in 1994 and he is the only one to whom Lara could turn for support. Walsh and Ambrose yes, extremely good even great bowlers, but we had no 1st change bowlers at all. I see you failed to mention Azzarudin?? Selective memory perhaps?

 

[delkap]

Look carefully, I mentioned Azhar